Zoogma's Preston Boutot: "We Try To Take Everything We Can and Make It One Sound."

Musicians are undoubtedly influenced by the music they listen to. An artist's musical selection can sometimes even foretell what a next album might sound like. So if you've ever wondered what the artists who grace your stereo are getting funky to, here's your chance to find out. Every week, I'll ask traveling musicians as well as locals the fated question: What's playing in your CD player or tape deck right now?

Zoogma

​The first things any music lover expects from a band from in Memphis, Tennessee, is country twang or blues guitar. And while neither of these aspects is readily obvious in work from livetronica/jam group Zoogma, the five-piece still holds these inspirations true to their hearts.

Zoogma came through Dallas last weekend for their second time this year. And despite their progressive sound (ever seen a live band play dubstep?) and ability to spark dance parties, a spare hundred or so in the local community attended. But that didn't matter to Austin Fogerty, a former classmate of the band at Ole Miss and a fan native to Dallas.

"Zoomga is fantastic," Fogerty said at the merch table after the show at 2826 Arnetic. "I've seen them six times and they keep getting better."

After the show, we sat down with Zoogma keyboard player Preston Boutot to find out what he's been jamming lately.

Currently jamming: George Duke.

"He's a badass funk keyboard player. He's got a whole band, and he does
his thing that's like ... I don't know... badass. He's just really, really
badass."

Inspired by: his job as a musician on the day-to-day.

"I love doing this. It's the best job in the world, if you can call it a
job. I don't know what I would rather do. Just seeing how people react
to the music. When you go around playing live, you get a ton a feedback --
some good, some bad. But to watch how people interpret the music in their
own way is really cool. As a band, we all have certain
different backgrounds in terms of music. We pull from a little bit of
everything -- blues, old rock 'n roll, jazz, even current stuff like
dubstep or drum and bass. We try to take everything we can and make it one sound."
Where the two roads meet: a new Zoogma album due out in 2012 and, undoubtedly, more tours.

"We've played, oh, I don't know, 300 shows since the last album. We've
just learned a whole lot more as a band. There are some new tricks up
our sleeve, which I don't want to give away too much about, but there
are going to be a lot of cool surprises. It will be free again [like the
last album]. Zoogma is definitely a live experience. I mean, you can
listen to the albums all you want, but the point of those albums,
especially since they're free, is to draw people out to the live show."